Naruto: Deathless
by Xsd
Summary: Naruto watched as his wound rapidly healed. A tear fell down his face. Why was it so easy for them? What made him so different? Why couldn't he die? Naruto retelling.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 1: Undying

The silence was eerily familiar as the boy faced the bathroom mirror. A single flickering light bulb illuminated the small room containing nothing but the boy and a lone kunai left on the bathroom counter. A calloused right hand gingerly picked up the kunai. Slowly he put the sharp weapon to his own neck. A strangely hopeful look crossed his face. In one quick fluid motion he slit his own throat. The pain was immediate.

His left hand grasped at the injury as his other hand dropped the kunai in the sink with a reverberating clang. His body gasped for breath, to no avail. But soon he felt an unnatural heat buildup at the sight of his injury. He watched in the dirty mirror as his wound began to steam up. In less than a second it cooled down again, his neck now looking perfectly intact. Blood, ran down his pristine neck and drenching what once was a white shirt, it was the only evidence that he even committed the act to begin with.

The mirror showed disappointed eyes and the boy could not resist the tired sigh from escaping his lips. Turning toward the exit he walked out the bathroom, flicking the light switch off on his way out. He slowly made his way to his bed, careful not to trip on anything in his messy room. His hand went to his night stand and groped for two objects. Finding a blood red journal and a black pen, he laid his head down onto a pillow. Opening to a bookmarked page picked up his pen and began to write.

"Suicide attempt #637: Slit throat. Attempt was painful, but not unbearably so. A pain severity rating of 4. Attempt left me unable to breath, but length of time was unsubstantial. Feeling of death was at 2. Blood loss was minimal. Blood rating was at 3. Healing occurred almost immediately. Healing rating was at 9. Conclusion: One of my least successful attempts thus far. Alternatives: Katana, longer cut, leaving weapon inside, decapitation, internal decapitation. Explore possibilities at a later date.

-Naruto Uzumaki, September 22, 20:37"

Naruto quietly placed the journal and pen back down on his night stand. He looked up at his ceiling and lost himself to the hopelessness of his situation. The villagers only asked one thing of him and still he could not carry through with the act. He closed his eyes, but that only brought on the voices of his memories. Of hundreds of people who had called him demon, who had sobbed as they called him the murderer of their friends, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Guilt racked his body in an uncontrolled sob. They wanted his death, and one way or another, he will fulfill their wish. Without changing clothes or even getting under the covers he slept for the rest of the night.

-Next Day-

-Konoha Ninja Academy, September 23, 09:23 a.m.-

"Alright everyone, today you will all be taking the exam. We will be calling you in to the examination room and you will be asked to perform the three basic academy jutsu. Good luck to you all!" Iruka exclaimed with a smile on his lips. "First up is Shino Aburame."

-1 hours later-

"Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka's voice shouted from beyond the door to the exam room. Lazily the blonde boy stood up from his seat and made his way to the room. As he walked he could hear the sniggers of his classmates as they laughed at the not so quiet jokes meant to insult the young boy. However his eyes betrayed no semblance of a reaction to their words. Only boredom was displayed on his face. If it had nothing to do with the possibility of his own demise the blond had no interest in it. Finding himself in the middle of the exam room Naruto faced Iruka and Mizuki.

"Alright Naruto your first task is to do the transformation jutsu." Iruka said, looking at Naruto with an expecting look.

"No thanks." Naruto said with a dispassionate voice.

"… what?" Iruka's disbelieving voice asked. Being the first time a student had refused to perform a jutsu he had no idea of how to react.

"You do realize failing to perform the jutsu results in automatic failure?" Mizuki interjected in confusion.

"Oh well." Naruto said as he began walking out the door, his two chuunin sensei to stunned to stop him.

-Outside Konoha Ninja Academy, 1 hour later-

Naruto looked on at his classmates being greeted and congratulated by parents. He frowned as he felt a small ache in his chest. Reaching into his Kunai holster he pulled out his journal and pen. Flipping through the small book he found his bookmark.

"Chest began to ache today. Possible weakness? Explore possibilities of exploiting this weakness later tonight before healing begins." Before he could engross himself further in his musings, someone cleared their throat behind him. He looked to the source of the noise to come face to face with Mizuki.

"Naruto mind if I have a word with you?"

"What do you need?" Naruto replied with boredom.

"Listen I know you have what it takes to be a gennin. It's too late to perform the standard gennin exam, but I know of a secret exam that will allow you to graduate." Mizuki said in a hushed voice.

"So what?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Well don't you want to become a gennin? You'll get to go on a lot of adventures and help to defend the village!" Mizuki explained with enthusiasm.

Naruto was about to decline the offer till he considered the offer. 'It sounds like I'll have some good opportunities of death if I choose to become a gennin…'

"What do I have to do?" Naruto asked.

-Outside the village walls, 21:18-

In a forest clearing near the village walls a rare sight could be seen. A lone boy was sitting down, his form hunched over as he read from a large scroll. The strangest sight about this all however was the shadow of a smile that graced the young boy's lips. 'These jutsu, require incredibly high prices in order for the caster to perform them. Maybe one of these jutsu will be enough to kill me!' The boy thought with glee. It was a wondrous day for him. Even if none of these jutsu could kill him it opened a whole new realm of possibility for the boy. Death by jutsu!

-30 minutes later-

Iruka jumped through the trees looking for his student. The forbidden scroll was stolen by Naruto, and if anyone but Iruka found the boy he feared what they would do to him. Finally sensing the boy's chakra he picked up his pace till he found Naruto in a forest clearing, sitting down and looking as if he was waiting to be found. When he jumped down from the trees Naruto caught sight of him and greeted him.

"Hey Iruka!" Naruto said with a small, yet surprising, amount of cheer.

"Naruto do you have any idea of what you've done?" Iruka yelled.

"Of course I do, Mizuki told me all about it."

"Mizuki? What did he tell you?" Iruka asked confused.

"He said that if I take the forbidden scroll and learn a jutsu from it that I'm allowed to graduate." Naruto said as he stood up and walked to his sensei.

Iruka's eyes widened at Naruto's answer. "Naruto have you learned any jutsu from the scroll?" Iruka asked worry seeping into his voice.

"Of course I have." Naruto answered as he began securing the scroll to his back.

"Can you show me?" Iruka muttered. Before Naruto could answer a voice interrupted them.

"There you are!" Naruto and Iruka turned to the newcomer. "Took me a while to find you. It's just a little unfortunate that Iruka found you before I could. But it makes no difference." Mizuki said with a crazed grin as he drew out a giant shuriken.

"So it was you after all, Mizuki!" Iruka said, drawing a kunai and getting into a stance.

"This doesn't concern you Iruka." Mizuki said before turning to Naruto. "Hand over the scroll demon brat!"

Naruto looked between Iruka and Mizuki and although he didn't have the best social skills he knew something wasn't right here. "Or else what?" Naruto responded in a monotone voice.

"Or else I'll kill you!" Mizuki gleefully screamed.

Naruto grinned in response. "Alright then, kill me!" Naruto said with uncontained happiness, causing Iruka to be shocked by the blondes response.

"Die!" Mizuki screamed as he threw the giant shuriken. With a sickening thud it found its way to Naruto's chest. But instead of falling over dead, Naruto just frowned and pulled the shuriken out, steam quickly coming off the wound as it began to close up.

"You're going to have to do better than that sensei." Naruto said looking disappointed.

Mizuki, whose face was in disbelief, became enraged at the blonde's words. "Take this then you demon brat!" Mizuki jumped down and began to stab and slash at Naruto in a fury before stopping due to a hail of shuriken and kunai being thrown at him by a now recovered Iruka.

"Get away from him you monster." Iruka angrily yelled.

"You're too late Iruka, the demon is dead!" Mizuki retorted. But before Iruka could respond a voice cut through the conversation.

"I wish." Naruto's bored voice said. "You're a real disappointment sensei."

Mizuki and Iruka were shocked speechless at Naruto's perfect condition. "I can't let someone like you off scot free." Naruto said as he formed a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto whispered as 50 clones appeared around the forest. Mizuki didn't stand a chance.

-Training ground 19, September 24, 06:23 a.m-

Naruto awoke in the middle of a crater. His clothes were in tatters and blood was splashed throughout the small crater. Standing up he used what little motivation he had to walk to his journal which was a safe distance away from whatever had caused the crater. Opening to his last marked page he began to write down his latest failure.

"Suicide attempt #640: Exploding tags. Attempt was one of the most painful so far. A pain severity rating of 9. Attempt left me unconscious. Feeling of death was at 6. Blood loss was severe. Blood rating was at 8. Healing occurred throughout the night. Healing rating was at 3. Conclusion: One of my better attempts so far. I might be on to something here. Alternatives: More explosive tags, preexisting wounds, sequence explosions, direct contact, swallowing an exploding tag. Explore possibilities at a later date.

-Naruto Uzumaki, September 24, Approximately 06:00 a.m."

Looking at the state of his clothes Naruto decided to go home and change clothes before the team assignments.

-5 hour later, roof of the Konoha Ninja Academy-

"Ok… Let's begin with some introductions." Kakashi said.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"How about…Your likes, dislikes…Dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

"Why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. You look…suspicious." Sakura said.

"Oh…Me?" He asked. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes…Dreams for the future? Hmm well I have lots of hobbies…" He finished, leaving everyone with a sweat drop.

Sakura turned to her team. "All he told us was his name." She said.

"Now it's your turn, from the right." Sakura looked at the seating arrangement to see herself first, Sasuke second, and Naruto last.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, the thing I like is…Well…the person I like is…" Sakura looked at Sasuke and giggled. "My dream for the future is..." Again she looked at Sasuke and giggled. "The thing I dislike…is Ino-pig. My hobby is…" She blushed and giggled once more. Sakura looked to her team and saw a bunch of sweat drops. 'What's up with them?'

"Next." Kakashi says.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike, but I'm not in the mood to rant about them. I don't really like anything either. And… I don't want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and I also want to kill a certain man."

'How does one get added to that list?' Naruto thought with interest.

"That was interesting." Kakashi said. He then pointed at Naruto. "Ok, your turn."

Sakura considered her last team member. Naruto Uzumaki was for all intents and purposes a dead last loser. To her understanding he had not even passed the gennin exam. And yet there he was, about to take his turn in introducing himself to the team. She didn't know if she was more happy that Sasuke was on her team or upset that Naruto was on her team as well. 'Che, not even he can ruin this for me! I'll win Sasuke-kun's heart now for sure.' She thought in a state of blissfulness.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I don't really like or dislike anything. All I want is to find an opponent strong enough to end it." Naruto said in a dull voice. No one could hide their surprise at the strange answer. Kakashi being the first to collect his bearings cleared his throat. "Err, well right, anyway meet me tomorrow at training ground 7 at 6:30 for your final exam, and don't eat anything or else you'll puke." With that Kakashi poofed away before they could ask him what he meant by "final exam."

"What a freak!" Sakura exclaimed. Her two teammates simply nodded their heads in agreement.

-Author's note—

Well that was chapter one. I want to first start off by saying that I got the idea for this story from tokehgecko and his amazing story "Melancholy's smile." It's been on hiatus for years but trust me it's worth the read. Check it out when you have the chance. I know I have some stories I haven't updated in forever, but I was reading them a couple weeks ago and I felt quite embarrassed by them. They both need some major overhaul in the rewrite department. I'll try to take care of it in the coming weeks. For now I'll be working on this story for a while. I will warn you that there might be some flashbacks of Naruto being attacked by villagers, and while I don't like when writers do that, it definitely helps to strengthen the plot in this story. Well please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2: Immortal

Naruto jumped off the Hokage monument. The night sky covered him from the eyes of the villagers. He watched disinterested as he came closer to the ground. The wind was howling in his ears blocking out the noises of the mostly sleeping village. Slowly he positioned his body so that he would land on the top of his head. He didn't particularly care for this attempt. It wasn't as fast as some of the other attempts making for an annoying buildup.

Finally his head hit the ground. He could feel as his skull split open. Blood was already spewing out. His spine reverberated in a shockwave breaking at multiple points. Finally the rest of his limbs, caught up from the sudden stop, crashed into the road with loud cracks as they broke on impact.

For a few seconds Naruto's mangled body laid there, motionless with no signs of life. Then slowly but surely, sickening snaps and cracks filled the silence of the empty road as his body rearranged itself. Naruto panted at the pain that occurred from the healing. Broken bones always hurt the most to repair.

Slowly raising from the floor Naruto looked to the damaged ground. It was covered in varying sizes of blood splatter. As he looked he could see the familiar sight of gray matter. Soon the pounding of his head diverted his attention from the disgusting sight; Naruto frowned knowing he would have a headache for the rest of the night. Recovering his mind always took a while. He would document the attempt in the morning. For now he feared his altered mental status would interfere with an accurate analysis. Besides that, a little sleep would be needed for tomorrow's exam.

Luckily for Naruto he remembered his way home. The last time he had seen his own gray matter Naruto had forgotten his address. Deciding to think no more, Naruto mindlessly, almost literally so, made his way back home to retire for the rest of the night.

-Training Field 7, September 25, 06:20-

Naruto arrived at the training ground at the same time as Sakura, Sasuke was already there and meanwhile Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

"I wonder if Kakashi-Sensei will arrive soon." Sakura said trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Well if yesterday is anything to go by I'm guessing we'll be here for a while." Naruto said as he laid himself out comfortably on the ground ready to sleep.

Sakura frowned at her teammate's antics. She observed his choice of clothes. He was wearing a white tank top, baggy black pants, and a dark red hoody. His head band was tied to his left bicep over his hoodie. What was strange was the boy's choice of footwear, or rather lack thereof. "Naruto where are your shoes." Sakura said pointing at the blondes exposed feet.

Naruto considered the question, eyes closed as if he was still napping. "They kept wearing out so I stopped buying them." Naruto said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's gross Naruto! What are you going to do when you get cuts that get infected?" Sakura said with plain disgust.

Naruto snorted. "I wish I would be so lucky." Naruto murmured thoughtlessly.

"Gosh you're such a freak. How did you even become a gennin, last time I checked you failed the exam?" Sakura exclaimed.

Naruto, not even showing any indication of acknowledging the girls tone, simply answered. "I did the makeup exam."

"I wasn't aware of any makeup exam." Sasuke interjected.

"Well obviously it exist, otherwise I wouldn't be here." Naruto deadpanned.

Sasuke and Sakura didn't have anything to say to that. After a couple seconds of silence Sakura spoke. "So what did you have to do? Make a couple clones?"

Naruto thought about an answer. 'I guess shadow clones are still cones aren't they?'

"Yeah, pretty much." Naruto responded.

-2 hours later-

A poof announced Kakashi's arrival.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled, exasperated by her sensei's lateness.

"Sorry about that, you see a beautiful young lady ran into me and naturally she wanted a dance." Kakashi said cheerily.

"You're a shameless liar!" Sakura accused, her two teammates nodding their head in agreement behind her.

"Anyway, let's get to it. You're test is to take one of these two bells from me before the timer runs out."

Sasuke frowned at his sensei. "If there are only two bells what happens to the one who fails to get a bell?" he asked.

Kakashi grinned. "Oh that's simple, automatic failure and a trip back to the academy."

Team 7's eyes widened at their sensei's words, or rather Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened, Naruto was unfazed. "How are we supposed to get the bells?" Naruto asked as he patted the dead grass off his clothes.

"You'll have to come at me with the intent to kill." Kakashi said as in a matter-of-fact tone, as he set a timer down on a stump. "Now when I say go we'll start the exam."

Sasuke and Sakura tensed at his words, Naruto, like always, watched with a bored look on his face.

Kakashi raised his hand in the air. "Go!" He said as he brought his hand in the air. Sasuke and Sakura jumped away to hide in the forest. Kakashi watched as they hid themselves, all the while keeping track of their location. Noticing that Naruto had yet to make a move he regarded the last member with a curious look. "Why aren't you hiding like your teammates?"

"I'd rather not waste my time playing hide and go seek; besides hiding from a jonnin is foolish." Up in a tree a certain pink haired girl could be heard groaning at the truth in her teammates words. "So Kakashi-sensei I hope you're ready for me, because I won't be pulling back any punches." Naruto said in a half serious half bored tone.

In response Kakashi pulled a small book out, squatted down, and began reading aloofly. Naruto not bothered a bit, rolled his left sleeve up to his elbow. With deliberate speed Naruto began to form hand signs. "Blood weapon jutsu." Naruto murmured as he grabbed a Kunai with his right hand and cut his own forearm in a long arc.

The rest of team 7 watched in shock as the blood sprayed out in torrents. But instead of falling to the ground Naruto's blood began to float and collect in front of Naruto's outstretched right hand. Crimson liquid danced in an unpredictable stream till it covered the kunai and became larger and larger, till it was a 5 foot staff, it then began to form a scythe. The blade of the scythe grew until it was wickedly large. The blood became a half liquid, half coagulated scab. It looked both sickening and elegant, but all deadly.

His teammates looked on in a stunned silence taking in the sight of Naruto twirling around his newly formed weapon, droplets of blood occasionally dripping off the weapon. Instead of looking pale Naruto looked calm and as tan as he usually was. 'How much blood did he just lose?' Sakura thought in a panic.

Abruptly stopping his twirling Naruto faced the silver haired man. "Here I come." Naruto said as he charged at his sensei. Taken aback at the blondes speed Kakashi put his book away and began dodging Naruto's attacks. Naruto slashed vertically as Kakashi side stepped and pulled out a kunai. Naruto jumped into the air and began to flip. On the third flip Naruto brought the scythe down on Kakashi who parried with a kunai in a beautiful display of sparks. Landing on his feet Naruto kept low to the ground, as he began spinning the scythe horizontally behind his back. Kakashi kept his distance, till he had no choice but to jump back as Naruto's scythe came to close for comfort.

Kakashi seriously considered revealing the sharingan to fight off the gennin, but he quickly dismissed the idea. At the moment Naruto's hood had been pulled up during the fight, covering his face as the young boy took a moment to catch his breath. Gritting his teeth Naruto faced his sensei, who was surprised by Naruto's now red slit eyes. Without further hesitation Naruto ran at Kakashi at breakneck speed.

Quickly thinking of a plan Kakashi threw a barrage of Kunai and shuriken at Naruto, expecting him to dodge. Instead of doing that, Naruto picked up his pace and allowed the weapons to assault him mercilessly. Kakashi was so surprised that he barely managed to dodge Naruto's sideways slash. Sasuke and Sakura watched, shock written all over their faces. 'How is he not dead!' Sasuke thought, referring to the kunai and shuriken that were sticking out of Naruto's body.

As the fight progressed the weapons began to dislodge themselves. Steam following where they once were. 'High speed regeneration! But how?' Sakura thought, astonished by the boy's vitality. Naruto slashed once more and once more Kakashi dodged. Allowing his scythe to make a full arc Naruto changed the grip on his weapon and began stabbing at Kakashi's face with the end of the weapon. Easily moving his head from side to side, Kakashi considered a counterattack when suddenly a glint caught his eye. Purely out of reflex Kakashi shifted his weight so that he could further dodge the sharp protrusion on the side of Naruto's scythe.

"How did you do that?" Kakashi asked fingering a small cut on his cheek, as Naruto took a few steps back, in order to catch his breath.

Naruto gave Kakashi a bored look. "The blood weapon jutsu doesn't just turn my blood into a weapon. It's much more versatile than that. It gives me complete control of my blood, allowing me to change its form mid fight." Naruto said as he let his scythe fluctuate in size in example.

"I'm surprised you let that trump card out so easily. And besides that, it doesn't look like you have complete control of your blood." Kakashi said, referring to the dripping blood coming off the scythe.

"Well it doesn't really matter anymore. I've got what I came for." Naruto said aloofly as he allowed the scythe to lose its form and come crashing down in a disturbing display of blood.

Kakashi frowned. "What do you mean by that?" Kakashi asked confused.

"I have the bells." Naruto said as he raised his leg, two bells caught between his toes. Kakashi immediately looked to his side to confirm the incident in bewilderment. Sasuke and Sakura looked on, curious by how he had managed such a feat.

"When?" Kakashi asked referring to when Naruto had cut the bells from his pants.

"I told you sensei; I have complete control of my blood." Naruto responded as thin crimson streaks rose into the air, flabbergasting his entire team.

'So that's how he did it! He allowed Kakashi to believe that that the drips of blood were not important, all the while he was just trying to get one positioned just right so he could cut the bells free.' Sakura thought in realization. 'Isn't he supposed to be the dead last?'

"You two can come out now, there's no point in hiding anymore." Naruto said tiredly. Sakura and Sasuke came out, and gave Kakashi a confused face.

"So what now?" Sakura asked.

"Well, now it's up to Naruto to decide who will get the remaining bell." Kakashi said in a matter-of-fact tone. Both of Naruto's teammates looked to him, curious as to what his reaction would be. Not knowing that whatever their reactions may be would decide if they all pass or fail.

"Isn't it obvious. You two should take the bells." Naruto said plainly, surprising both his teammates with his answer.

"But didn't you want to become a gennin?" Sakura asked confused.

"Yeah but I can find other means to end it, and you two are stronger than the average gennin. This will be a more desirable outcome for the village." Naruto replied as he absently fiddled with the bells.

"No, it's ok, I'll take the failure for this one. You and Sasuke obviously are better suited." Sakura said dejectedly.

"Tch, well you both can forget it, there's no way I'm taking credit for the dobe's work." Sasuke interposed.

"Alright I've heard enough." Kakashi interrupted the conversation before it could go on any further. "You three leave me with no choice but to pass all of you." Kakashi said with a smile.

His three new students looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand Kakashi; I thought you said that only two of us would pass." Sakura asked the question that was on all their minds.

"That rule was simply to divide you three. The whole point of the exam was for you to get past these circumstances and still work together. Though truth be told, it was not my intention to let Naruto get those bells. That's why I wanted to see what you would say in response to having to decide who would pass or fail. Rather than be divided, all three of you put the team before yourself. I'm proud of you all, for putting the team before rules. Those who break the rules are considered trash, but you know what?" Kakashi asked in a solemn tone. "Those who abandon their friends are lower than trash. So with that, team 7 will begin their duties tomorrow!" Kakashi happily announced.

Team 7 smiled in response, yes even Sasuke and Naruto smiled.

-Undisclosed location, 21:47-

Naruto looked at the large crimson head cleaver laid out next to him. There was something absolutely fascinating about this particular creation. Inside of it contained every drop of his blood. He could make it stretch out even larger than that if he were to allow it too. Of course at the moment he was incapacitated at the moment. Loosing every drop of blood in your body tends to do that to you. Finally feeling enough circulation in his body he began to stand up. Picking up his little journal Naruto marked down another failure.

"Suicide attempt #645: Blood weapon jutsu. Attempt was surprisingly painless. A pain severity rating of 1. Attempt wrinkled my skin and my organs vital functions were unsurprisingly not working. Unconsciousness happened quickly. Feeling of death was at 8. Blood loss was more severe than any past attempts. Blood rating was at 10. Healing occurred in a matter of 2 hours. Healing rating was at 5. Conclusion: A closer feeling of success than average, but nonetheless, surprisingly ineffective. I believe this may indicate a far superior ability to regenerate blood than I first thought I possessed. This test will help greatly for me to understand the limits of this immortal body. Alternatives: Chakra exhaustion, self-inflected wounds with blood weapon, must experiment with other failed attempts. Explore possibilities at a later date.

-Naruto Uzumaki, September 25, 21:55"

Naruto closed his notebook in anger. He really thought that one might work to! For a second he considered doing another forbidden jutsu, but decided against it. 'I'll just grab a bowl of ramen and go to bed for today." He thought sleepily.

-Author's Note—

Well there is chapter two. It might take me a while to get chapter three out since I have work tomorrow. But I'll have it in before Friday. Thank you to everybody that reviewed! It means a lot to me. You guys are all awesome. I'll be sure to get chapter three out for you all. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 3: Indestructible

Naruto looked up to the surface of the water. As inviting as it seemed he had resolved himself to stay under the lake's water for at least another hour. Naruto eyed the rope anchoring him to a heavy rock. Again the temptation to free himself from the constraint passed through him. But for the sake of the attempt Naruto had to endure, if only to further validate how much his body relied on oxygen or rather didn't. Although drowning yourself for three hours wasn't without its own share of pain.

Naruto's lungs protested with a horrible burning that not even the inhaled water could cool. His mind felt sluggish and slightly dizzy. Drowning was an unpleasant feeling; he couldn't really compare it to some of the other attempts. When he had first started the attempts Naruto could relate each incident to another, but as time went on he thought of new and different ways to kill himself. Eventually the attempts became so varied that Naruto could no longer compare them as easily as he used to.

It was like trying to compare ramen to dango, or a salad. They may be foods but you couldn't really say which tasted better than the other since they had completely different flavors. Of course there were some that were still close enough to each other that a comparison was possible. An amputated arm was to a deep stab as beef ramen was to miso ramen. But if he had to call drowning anything, he would call it a salad. Naruto Uzumaki hated salads.

Naruto looked at the darkening water, signifying the lateness of the day. Seeing that more time had passed, Naruto took out a kunai and cut his wrist. Blood left the wound in entrancing whirls. Naruto observed the cut and counted the seconds it took for it to heal. Sealing itself in 4 seconds, Naruto frowned at his findings. Taking the same kunai he had cut, himself with Naruto freed himself of the ropes constraints.

Making his way to the surface Naruto coughed and gasped intensely as he surfaced. His lungs were struggling to both expel the water that had filled them and inhale oxygen at the same time. The task was made all the more difficult by the small passageway that his throat had become. He knew the feeling all too well however, and after extensive research Naruto knew the culprit was a constricted larynx. Laryngospasm was the technical name for it; it is the body's initial response to drowning. It closed off the air tube by means of constricting the larynx, thus significantly lowering the amount of water that entered the lungs. Although it didn't completely stop water from entering, and after being underwater for three hours, Naruto still had water filling his lungs. Usually the larynx would unconstrict after unconsciousness. Unfortunately for Naruto he no longer fainted from oxygen deprivation leaving him with the laryngospasm even after extended periods of drowning. The resulting problem was his current predicament.

His lungs were trying their best to, both, expel a lungful of water and obtain precious air through a pin size airway. Slowly, but surely, his throat began to relax, and after a fit of coughing he was finally able to breath. Weakly swimming to land he crawled his way out of the water. Flipping himself on to his back Naruto laid splayed out on the lake's shore. After a couple of minutes, the boy picked himself up and went to retrieve his journal and pen over by a stump. With a frown Naruto considered what he would write down.

"Suicide attempt #647: 3 hour drowning. Attempt was severely painful. A pain severity rating of 8. Attempt didn't feel any closer to causing death than other drowning incidents. Feeling of death was at 3. Blood loss was extremely low and only due to self-inflicted cuts of the wrists during the attempt. Blood rating was at 1. Healing occurred throughout the drowning. It should also be noted that oxygen deprivation only slowed healing down by a factor of 0.5 seconds. Healing rating was at 8. Conclusion: This attempt has further solidified my findings, stating drowning as an improper means to death. Alternatives: Blood weapon jutsu, salt water, longer period of time, deeper bodies of water. Explore possibilities at a much later date.

-Naruto Uzumaki, September 26, 19:25"

-Training ground seven, September 27, 8:05 a.m.-

Kakashi poofed in front of his gennin team. "You're late!" He heard an irate Sakura yell.

"Ah, sorry about that. You see I was on my way here from a small mission when I ran into a town plagued by ghosts. Being a renowned exorcist it was my duty to expel all the evil spirits."

"You got to be kidding me!" Sakura screamed, pissed at her sensei's ridiculous lie.

Kakashi mock frowned in response. "Now Sakura quit being selfish, how could you just expect me to leave the poor townsmen to face their fate."

Sakura's eyebrow began to twitch in annoyance. "To hell with the townsmen." She muttered.

"Anyway, how about we start training for the day?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject. It had been about a two days since Naruto and his team had passed Kakashi's test. They started missions the next day, which, to Naruto's disappointment, were simple chores. When he pressed Kakashi as to the reason his sensei had simply replied that gennin started off with D-rank missions or, as Sasuke had so angrily labeled them, cheap labor. Naruto had nodded his head in agreement with the young scion on that one. To lighten their mood Kakashi had told them that they would be doing training today. The prospect of learning something quelled Sasuke's and Sakura's dissatisfaction. Naruto was a different story however.

"What will we be learning?" Sasuke asked aloofly.

"Well I think before I can teach you anything I would have to assess your current skill level." Kakashi said as he took a seat on a tree stump. "I figure the best way to do that is to have you three spar each other."

"So are we supposed to fight each other one at a time sensei?" Sakura asked, slightly hesitant of the idea of having to fight one of her teammates.

"Actually I want you and Sasuke to fight Naruto." Kakashi stated as he took out a small orange book. "If you don't mind Naruto?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm more likely to die this way than if we fought separately." Naruto said, picking dirt out of his fingernails. Kakashi nodded to Naruto in response.

Sasuke frowned. "You can't expect him to seriously take us both on do you?" Sasuke asked annoyed. "He's the dead last of the class."

"Oh really now? That's not what I saw when he took both the bells." Kakashi replied plainly.

"Tch, I could've done the same thing." Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded her head fervently. "Yeah Sasuke was the rookie of the year."

"Well then, if what you say is true victory should be assured." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

Growling, Sasuke began walking to the middle of the training field with an angry scowl on his face. "Tch, I won't need her help. I'll finish the dobe fast." Sasuke said as he faced down Naruto, who was lazily making his way to the field. Sakura took her place behind Sasuke, lest she get in his way.

"Alright, the only rule is to stop on my say so." Kakashi said from his seat on the stump.

Sasuke considered how to take on the blonde. He knew that Naruto was stronger than he let on. But he couldn't be that much stronger could he? No it looked like that blood jutsu and high speed regeneration was the extent of it. Naruto wouldn't be too much trouble. All he had to do was stop him from using his jutsu, and with enough punishment the blonde would faint.

"Begin!" Kakashi announced.

Not wasting a second Sasuke charged at the blonde. Once he was within striking range, Sasuke delivered a haymaker to Naruto's unguarded face. Seeing Naruto stumble back from the blow Sasuke proceeded to deliver a fury of kicks at Naruto's midsection. After a few kicks, Sasuke followed with jabs to the face packing as much power as he could muster into the quick punches. Meaning to finish the one sided exchange, Sasuke delivered a devastating punch obviously meant to knock Naruto on his back. What ended up happening however surprised all present. Naruto's head snapped back for a few inches before coming to a sudden stop. Naruto could be seen glaring at the Uchiha, a fist still on his face.

"Is that it?" Naruto growled. Taken aback, Sasuke jumped away from his enemy. Sakura watched all this astonished by Naruto's appearance. 'He doesn't look like he has a scratch on him!' She thought, as she turned to look at her crush. She frowned in worry as she saw that he was lightly panting. 'How does Sasuke look like the one more worn out?'

Naruto let the glare that was on his face slowly come off. "If you want to kill me you're going to need a lot more power than that." Naruto said in a serious tone. Sasuke didn't take any of this well.

'The dobe wants to see power?' Sasuke thought angrily. 'I'll just show him then!' Performing a rapid set of hand seals, Sasuke prepared to unleash an enormous fireball on the unsuspecting blonde. Taking in a large breath, Sasuke exhaled a massive ball of flame. He watched as the jutsu sailed to Naruto at a slow pace.

As it closed in he expected to hear the pop noise from a replacement jutsu. But instead nothing happened to signify that Naruto had escaped the jutsu. Sasuke's anger deflated, he turned to Kakashi to see if maybe he had managed to save Naruto in the nick of time. But the only sight that greeted him was that of Kakashi, flipping the page in his little orange book, a perverted giggle escaping his lips.

Sasuke looked back to the site of impact in shock. 'No this wasn't supposed to happen! I made sure that jutsu wouldn't be too fast to dodge.' Sasuke thought in a panic. It was the truth. Sasuke had made the jutsu huge, but so slow that even an academy student with less than 2 years' worth of training would have been able to dodge it. Maybe scared and a little singed, but that was the point.

"Naruto!" He heard Sakura scream. As the flames began to die down, a silhouette started to become visible. Sasuke and Sakura were bewildered. They couldn't believe their eyes as the figure began to walk toward them, flames quickly dying down.

Finally they were able to see Naruto, ruined jacket and all, but other than that looking mostly fine. A couple of patches of blackened skin could be seen turning back to their original healthy tan before their eyes. It was an unsettling sight for the two gennin. Naruto looked at his destroyed jacket with a frown. "I knew I should have sprung the extra 100 ryo for the fire proof jacket." Naruto muttered, swiping the remains of his red hoodie from his form, revealing an intact tank top and pants. Naruto considered his teammates' reaction. "What's with the looks? You saw my healing only two days ago" Naruto asked confused.

Sasuke slowly got over his shock enough to glare at the blond. "We saw you heal from a couple of projectiles, not a chuunin ranked fire jutsu." Sasuke yelled accusingly.

"So now you understand then? Why I search so desperately to find someone who can kill me?" Naruto asked in a monotone voice. "For me it's not as simple as taking a hand full of pills. So please use your strongest techniques on me." Naruto asked a hint of pleading leaking into his flat tone.

Sasuke looked down at the ground in humiliation. "That was my strongest jutsu." Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"I figured as much." Naruto sighed, annoying Sasuke.

Sasuke glowered in response. "I'm not done yet. I'll make you pay for underestimating me."

"Well I guess since you're throwing everything you have at me, it's only right that I do the same." Naruto said a light smirk on his face. Naruto began to make hand signs. His teammates' eyes widened upon recognizing a tiger seal.

'A fire jutsu!' Sakura thought terrified.

"Fire body jutsu." Naruto said. In a matter of seconds, everything from his fingertips to lower bicep were covered in flames. Not only his arms, but his feet were as well! "You two better be careful." Naruto warned before he careened to Sasuke.

Taken slightly by surprise at Naruto's increased speed, Sasuke barely managed to dodge one of the burning fist. Sasuke took two steps back to get some distance, but Naruto was ready for it. Using momentum, Naruto stood on his hands and kicked at Sasuke. This time Sasuke had no choice but to block, using his forearm. However he hadn't expected the strength in Naruto's kick, he skidded back a few feet as a result.

Again Naruto wasted no time in charging toward Sasuke, who was patting out the fire on his arm warmer. But before he could strike the unguarded boy, he was taken down from an axe kick to the top of the head. Naruto crashed to the ground hard. Immediately he built up fire into his hands and used it as propulsion to get back on his feet. Once more using momentum, Naruto was about to punch, Sakura across the face.

However Sasuke had already thrown kunai and shuriken at Naruto, each projectile hitting their mark. Normally this wouldn't have stopped Naruto, but the strings attached to them certainly did. Using all the strength he could muster, Sasuke threw Naruto into a tree. Sasuke was about to attack the blonde some more, but something stopped him.

He smelled it before he saw it. For a second, Sasuke was 7 years old again, just coming back home to see a horrible nightmare. It was that same night that Sasuke smelled it for the first time. As he saw Naruto get up, rubbing his burning arms, he smelled it still. Sasuke knew without having to see Naruto's blackened arms and feet what the smell was. It was sickly sweet, a smell so strong he could taste it. A taste that made him nauseous, that killed any appetite he may have had.

Yes even after all this time, Sasuke still remembered that smell. You never forget the first time you smell burning flesh. Before, Naruto's body healed to fast before to allow the scent to permeate through the air. But now that it was continuously burning alive, not even his healing ability could stop the smell for that long. Naruto began to start on another set of hand signs, when Kakashi's voice stopped him. "That's enough for today you three." Putting his hands down, Naruto extinguished the flames from his body. Sasuke and Sakura looked slightly relieved despite themselves.

"Naruto has some disturbing jutsu." Sakura said absently.

Sasuke didn't need to say anything for her to know he agreed. The look in his eyes told enough.

-Konoha, September 28 10:34-

Naruto was a strange sight walking down the streets of Konoha. His spare hoodie was once again about to get destroyed, not by a deadly jutsu but by a cat, a very angry and very unhappy cat to be exact. Sakura resisted the urge to laugh as Naruto's face slowly became a scowl. Grabbing the cat by his scruff, he lifted the cat to eye level so that they were face to face. In response Tora, the cat, lifted a clawed paw and quickly and violently scratched Naruto's face. Naruto's only reaction was to narrow his eyes at the cat, his wounds already healing. "Maybe you're the one?" Naruto asked the cat.

Sasuke shook his head at his teammate's antics. "That cat won't be able to kill you." Sasuke said.

"It took us well over an hour to catch him. He might prove himself worthy in a fight." Naruto said his voice completely serious, glare intensifying. To Tora's credit, the cat didn't even flinch; instead he glared right back at Naruto, paw twitching in anticipation of the fight.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura said, snatching the cat from Naruto's grip. "We're taking this cat back to his owner."

Finally they made it to the Hokage tower. Before they could even step foot into the tower, team 7 was greeted by a rather large woman. "Tora there you are!" The woman shrieked as she took the cat from Sakura's outstretched hands, before proceeding to smother said cat in between her breast. Sakura and Sasuke looked on horrified.

Naruto's face became slightly more serious. "It appears Tora has his own demons he must slay before he can take me on. But I'm confident we will meet again."

Seeing Sasuke and Kakashi ignore Naruto and walk away, Sakura grabbed a hold of Naruto's wrist. "Come on you baka, the rest of our team is going to get another mission." She said as she led him, catching up to Sasuke and Kakashi just as they began to walk into the Hokage's office.

Seeing team 7 walk in, Sarutobi smiled in greeting. "Hello there. I take it you did well on your mission?" He asked the team.

"Everything went well, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said. "Naruto did almost kill our target, but Sakura stopped him."

"And why did you try to kill the target Naruto?" The Hokage inquired.

"I apologize grandfather. Tora seemed like a worthy opponent is all, I meant him no harm." Naruto said surprising Sakura and Sasuke with his choice of words.

Expecting him to get reprimanded they were a taken aback when the Hokage just laughed at the blonde. "Well I don't think the daimyo would let me hear the end of it if you did kill that cat so try to avoid that."

"Very well grandfather." Naruto said, taking a respectful bow.

"So for your next mission, how about you four go take the Inzuka's dogs for a walk."

"Very well then Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied, walking up to take the mission scroll from the Hokage.

On their way out of the office Sakura turned to Naruto. "Naruto are you related to the Hokage?" She asked curiously.

"No, I don't think I am." Naruto replied.

"Then why did you keep calling him grandfather?" Sasuke asked annoyed.

Naruto blinked at what was to him, a very unexpected question. "I don't know." Naruto shrugged. "He's always been grandfather for as long as I could remember."

Sasuke and Sakura frowned in confusion. Their teammate never ceased to surprise them.

-Training ground seven, October 5 08:31-

Naruto fell from the tree with a dull thud. It had been about a week and a half since team 7 had formed and already they were getting into the swing of things. Every other day switched between missions and training. Currently they were in the middle of training, tree climbing to be more precise; while there sensei went to talk to the Hokage.

Sasuke looked over at his blonde teammate. He couldn't help the feeling of envy that enveloped him whenever he saw the blonde. After their spar it was obvious to Sasuke that the gap between his and the class dead last's skill level was not in his favor. Although considering the fast rate that Uchiha took to becoming stronger, Sasuke would be able to surpass the blonde with some training, or so he told himself.

But that wasn't what bothered him so much. The fact that there was a gap was what upset Sasuke. This was supposed to be the dead last! And yet Naruto showed himself to be more than quite capable as a shinobi. It didn't help that the only reason for Naruto's sudden motivation was simply from the prospect of finding someone strong enough to kill him.

He wasn't sure what to make of the boy. Truthfully Sasuke had moments when he himself had thoughts of ending it all. On those days only his drive to restore his clan and kill his brother kept him hanging on. But even those feelings and thoughts were rooted in sadness and despair. But Naruto didn't seem to express either of those feelings. Actually, he didn't express much emotion at all. His goal of dying seemed as legitimate and logical as Sasuke's own ambitions, or at least they were to Naruto.

Seeing Naruto fall once more to the ground Sasuke frowned, curiosity finally getting the better of him. "Hey dobe, I have a question for you." Sasuke said breaking the silence.

"If it's about any tips for this exercise, I don't think I have any better grasp of this than you do." Naruto said, slowly picking himself up.

Sasuke walked closer to the blonde. "It's not about the exercise." Sasuke said annoyed.

"Well then what is it you need to ask?" Naruto replied surprised at his teammate's sudden desire to speak. Sasuke was never one to initiate pointless conversation.

"It's about that goal of yours." Sasuke said, Sakura who had not really been paying close attention to the conversation, perked up at the chance to find out more about one of her enigmatic teammates.

"What about it?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused.

Sasuke's frown deepened at Naruto's innocent response. "Well it's not every day I meet someone so resolved to die with no stated reasons." Sasuke said annoyed.

"Well of course there's a reason." Naruto answered still confused. Sasuke stared at Naruto; waiting to hear the reason, after a couple of seconds of this Naruto raised an eyebrow at his teammate. "What?" Naruto murmured, becoming slightly uncomfortable under the gaze of his two teammates.

"Well what's the reason?" Sakura asked, the suspense of it all finally getting to her.

"It's the wish of the village." Naruto replied, in a tone that made it seem as if it was something obvious.

At this point Sasuke had a full blown scowl. "What do you mean by that? Why would the village want you dead?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's just something that has always been." Naruto stated.

Sakura and Sasuke weren't quite sure what to say to that. After a couple of seconds of silence, it was Sakura who chose to speak. "Have they ever tried to… well you know?" Sakura muttered hesitantly.

Again Naruto gave his teammate a confused look.

Sighing, Sasuke clarified. "I think she's trying to ask is if anyone has ever tried to kill you?"

"Well of course they have." Naruto said, with a sad look on his face. "But none of them are strong enough to do the job. So that's why I must try to find someone who can. "

Sakura frowned at his answer. "So that's it? You want to die just because of that? You don't even know why they want to kill you." Sakura said, finding herself angered by the blondes reasoning.

Knowing he had said something wrong, but not knowing what, Naruto gave the girl a reassuring smile that seemed eerily wrong given what he said next. "It's alright Sakura, I'm sure they have a good reason. I trust in the people of this village, I need to die for their sake." And with that Naruto went back to climbing the tree, ending the conversation. Seeing that trying to pry more out of the blonde wouldn't be possible Sasuke went back to training without a word, leaving with more questions than answers.

-Meanwhile, Hokage Tower-

Kakashi walked into the Hokage's office, with a purposeful stride. Hearing him enter, Sarutobi turned away from the sunset he had been observing so peacefully. "Ah Kakashi. To what do I owe this visit?"

"You know what this is about." Kakashi said, taking a seat, face not pleased. "I haven't seen the boy in 8 years and when I finally get the chance to, he's a suicidal mess. What happened to him?"

Sarutobi considered the question. "I'm afraid that it's something Naruto will have to tell you when he's ready."

Kakashi tightened his fist. "Why wasn't I ever informed?"

"I'm sorry Kakashi. But by the time it all happened, the damage was already done. I wanted to tell you, but it wouldn't have done either of you any good. You know the council wouldn't have let you see him, I myself have to fight tooth and nail just for the chance to pay him a weekly visit." The Hokage said as he took a puff from his pipe. "Kakashi believe me, putting him on your team was the best I could do."

Kakashi's eye narrowed, but he said nothing. He wanted to say more, but he knew that the Hokage was right. "Very well Hokage-sama." Kakashi said in a dejected tone, rising from his seat and walking to the door. "Whatever it is Konoha has done to him, I hope he can forgive them one day." Kakashi said before he walked outside.

With a tired sigh the Hokage went to gaze outside his window once more. "I can't say I completely share that sentiment." The Hokage said sadly. Suddenly this sunset didn't look as beautiful to him as it was moments ago.

-October 5, 23:45-

Naruto sat back on his bed. By his side a rusty syringe laid forgotten. He could feel as liquid fire began to run through his veins. This was a new attempt for him. After all getting your hands on sulfuric acid was no easy matter. Already his body tried to combat the intrusion, but it wasn't happening as smoothly as it did with other poisons. He could feel the fire make its way to his head. The pain began to worsen, before he felt certain parts of his body become numb. His vision began to close in. Dark spots forming in random areas of what he could see.

Naruto's thoughts began to come up with any possible alternatives. Maybe he could combine some poisons with the acid next time. Or he could use the blood weapon jutsu to speed up his circulation, thus getting the acid to spread out faster. He tried to think of more, but his eyelids began to feel heavy. He felt really tired for some reason. He would've yawned if he didn't want to scream so badly.

'Maybe this will get it done after all…' He frowned. 'Wait get what done? …What's going on again? …Oh wait that's right…I was trying to cook some ramen…I think…What's ramen? ...I think it has something to do with my name…What's my name again? …dobe? …baka? …oh wait that's right…' He closed his eyes, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "It's demon." He whispered sadly, unconsciousness finally claiming him.

-Author's note-

Well, there you have it. It took me three days of straight typing but it's done now. I really wasn't sure how this chapter was going to turn out; I ended up having to spend hours on just two lines of dialogue. I put a lot of work into this chapter so I hope it shows. Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. Thank you so much. And thanks to all of you who favorited and followed the story. Seriously if it wasn't for the insanely positive reception this story got, this chapter would've came out a lot later. Reading all your reviews and seeing my inbox get blown up from all the favs and follows really motivated me to finish this chapter. Be warned though that, I don't intend to update again till next week. I usually spend Friday getting into an alcohol induced coma. And this Saturday I'm driving into Nashville to see taking back Sunday. So that leaves only Sunday for me to write. If I manage to finish earlier though, I will update as soon as I can. Now to address some reviewers. No this story won't be a harem. Nothing against harems, I just don't like them personally. The journal is numbered based off order of the attempt not by the type of attempt. And yes I actually try to sneak a little humor into some of the attempts, though it can be a little hard at times. Anyway, thank you all for reading. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Invincible

-October 10, 23:45, Konoha West District-

Naruto felt another kunai plunge itself into his body. With a grunt a villager kicked him in the ribs. Naruto numbly noted a villager pulling out a katana. His blood arced into the air as he was cut by the new weapon. A man walked up to him rope in hand. Naruto pondered at the man's identity. 'Oh that's right, he's a fruit vendor.' Roughly the man tied him to a pole in the middle of the street. When he was done, a liquid was poured on his body. Naruto inhaled the scent of lighter fluid. He sighed at what would happen next. This wouldn't be pleasant.

In seconds his body was engulfed in flames. The burning pain was blinding. For a while, white engulfed his vision. He grit his teeth at the pain. But eventually this was futile. He couldn't hold back the coughs that raked his body. Violently his body screamed for air. But it was no use. Smoke was the only thing entering his body. And try as he might, he couldn't open up his lungs enough to breathe. He knew what was causing this. Circumferential burns to his torso had made his skin rigid. It wouldn't be possible to expand his chest past a few inches.

The fire singed all his hair, though it grew back just as fast as it burned. Already he could feel parts of his body go numb. Parts where third degree burns had destroyed the nerves. Still he felt some of his intact nerves sending the feeling of subcutaneous fat melting.

Meanwhile the villagers watched. Some had already gone home, the violence too much for them. Some looked away. Some watched a solemn look on their face. Others were much more gleeful about the whole thing. Smiling and laughing. The more demented ones even throwing projectiles at the boy's burning body. But even though the torture would continue for hours to come, no one was there to stop it. The boy always recovered in minutes anyway. So what was so wrong in letting them continue? The meaning of today was still fresh in many of their memories. Some had lost everything on this day. Because the memories still tore at them. They needed this to feel better.

Naruto wasn't aware of what happened on this day but he could see how it tore at them. The children would smile at the festivities, but the adults couldn't hide the sadness from sneaking into their eyes. And when the night came Naruto saw the pain in their eyes as they beat him. As they called him the monster, the demon, the destroyer. They would still be sad throughout the entire ordeal, even the ones trying to smile and laugh. Naruto could see it all, tears that ran down their happy faces. But it was all worth it to the blond. In the morning they would smile. They would move on with their lives, until the next year. Until they needed him once again, their favorite scapegoat. And he would endure it all for his village.

-Trade Road 48, October 17 13:42-

Team 7 walked down the road in a perpetual silence. Their charge looked at them with a questioning eyebrow. To Tazuna, who had just met the team, the silence was a bit perturbing. He watched with a small amount of worry at the tension between the three young gennin. The dark haired boy would occasionally send a glare at the blonde. The young girl in the team would alternate between looking at the blonde with a fearful glance, and staring at the dark haired boy with a faraway expression.

Meanwhile Naruto looked ahead, a look of absolute boredom and apathy on his face. Though Tazuna didn't expect too much out of the three gennin, considering who would be coming after him, it wasn't a reassuring sight to see even the jonnin walking with an orange book in hand and a perverse giggle escaping his lips every so often. Tazuna felt sweat begin to drop at the strange dynamics of the team. Deciding to break the silence, Tazuna cleared his throat. "Are you four usually this quiet?" Tazuna asked dubiously.

Everyone seemed unfazed by the question, except Sakura. She frowned as she considered the question. It was true that her teammates were quite reserved. Sasuke was a person who liked being alone to his own thoughts, and try as she might Sakura couldn't get him to open up. She usually stopped talking to him right after he rejected one of her advances. Naruto didn't really seem to have anything other than death on his mind. The only sign of life he would exhibit would be when he pulled out a red journal, and jot down a quick sentence before putting it away. Though even if he had something to talk about Sakura found herself to scared to speak to him.

It was apparent to even her though that Sasuke both disliked Naruto, and had a begrudging respect for him. Sasuke would occasionally ask the blonde questions during training; however these questions were usually met with short responses. All in all it left for long hours of awkward silences between the trio. As for her sensei… Well if the small nosebleed he was currently trying to wipe away was anything to go by she didn't really want to know what was on his mind. Before she could muse any farther she was interrupted by Tazuna once again clearing his throat, trying to get a response from somebody.

"Well we talk sometimes, but usually we are pretty quiet I guess." Sakura said nervously.

"Shouldn't brats your age be more talkative, I expected at least one of you to be jumping around and yelling?" Tazuna asked with a frown.

"As if we would embarrass ourselves with such childish antics." Naruto interjected.

"Besides ninja are meant to be silent, talking unnecessarily would only serve to give away our position." Sasuke added.

"You guys must be a blast at parties." Tazuna muttered under his breath. "And what do you mean by not embarrassing yourself doing childish antics? You're not even wearing shoes!" Tazuna argued loudly.

"Shoes are a crutch invented by the enemy." Naruto said dismissively. Tazuna sighed in response, it was apparent he wouldn't get a conversation out of the ninja. It was better that way though he told himself. He won't feel as guilty if one of them died on this mission.

-2 hours later-

Puddles weren't anything to be feared. Small deposits of water, staying for a few hours till the sun eventually dried them up. Not uncommon to find during and after rain. At most they were but a few inches deep. The greatest danger they could ever hope to serve would be wet sandals.

These were the thoughts that ran through Sakura's mind as a chain, emerging from a puddle, wrapped itself around her sensei. "That's one down!" She absently heard a gauntlet wielding rogue ninja say, as he and his apparent partner rose from the seemingly small pool of water. With a flick of their wrist the chain closed in, ripping and shredding, making short work of the silver haired teacher.

Not wasting any time the two enemy ninja hurled the chain at the three gennin. Sasuke immediately threw a shuriken and a kunai to the approaching chain, pinning it to a tree. Without any hesitation the two ninja detached the chain from their gauntlets and ran to the gennin. Naruto, seeing the enemy ninja approaching, walked in front of his teammates.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out, getting the blondes attention as he ran towards Naruto. Seeing the angle Sasuke was coming at him Naruto knew what he wanted to do. Naruto opened his stance up so that he was lower to the ground. At that moment Sasuke jumped over Naruto as the Blonde reached his hands up above him. With impeccable timing Naruto gripped Sasuke's shirt and heaved the Uchiha towards one of the enemies.

The move seemed simple enough, but for the two antisocial boys the attack had taken them a long time to get right, their sensei's persistence was the only reason they even learned it. Sasuke couldn't help the smirk that came to his face as he flipped and kicked the mist ninja's face at an incredible speed. The other ninja, bewildered by the gennin's quick response, could only watch as Sasuke began to pummel his ally. Before he could get his bearings back a kick from behind him sent him to the ground. Picking himself up quickly the mist ninja faced his attacker. He was greeted with the sight of a very uninterested Naruto.

"Are you going to attack or just try to stare me to death?" Naruto said, tapping his foot impatiently.

Growling, the enemy ninja jumped at Naruto. "Careful what you wish for brat!" He said as he stabbed the blonde, with his iron claws, straight through the chest and exiting out his back. He smirked as he violently ripped the gauntlet from his chest, turning away from the scene he had just caused. "Not so tough now, weakli-." He stopped speaking as he felt blinding pain coming from his chest. He looked down to see a crimson cone like shape protruding from the center of his chest. With eyes open wide he slowly turned his head till he faced a now healed Naruto, wielding a red lance.

"How?" He weakly muttered, vision going dark.

Ignoring the question Naruto just gave the dying ninja a dissatisfied look. "It looks like you were just another disappointment." He said as horizontal lines appeared on the lance. Without warning they began to spin in opposite directions. Screams of anguish accompanied the horrifying sight of blood spouting from the enemy's chest, the skin twisting with the spinning lance.

All activity ceased as everyone watched Naruto hoist the enemy into the air, before throwing him off the weapon that he was impaled on. The now dead ninja was hurled into a tree, his limbs becoming tangled as he came to a vicious stop. Everyone on the road looked on. The brutality of the act was so traumatizing that not even the one remaining enemy ninja could find the strength to move.

Naruto turned his gaze to the enemy, the bored look on his, now bloodied, face remaining unfazed by what he had just committed. "I hope you have more to offer than him, because otherwise your next." Naruto said as he pointed his lance at the enemy.

The mist ninja took a step back, fear showing all over his face. Before Naruto could attack him, rustling in the trees alerted everyone to Kakashi coming out of hiding.

"K-Kakashi!" Sakura said, unable to hide her relief at seeing her sensei still alive.

"Stand down for now, Naruto." Kakashi said nonchalantly. Turning to the rogue ninja, Kakashi eye smiled. "How about you surrender… Unless, of course you want to want to take your chances with my student?"

Immediately the ninja fell to his knees. "Please, I'll do whatever you want me to do! Just keep that monster away from me." He screeched out.

-5 hours later, off the coast of the Land of Waves-

The truth had come out. Tazuna was trying to build a bridge that would strip the billionaire, Gatou, of his control of the land of waves. The project was ambitious and now that the bridge was nearing completion, Tazuna began to fear for his life, and with good reason. One does not simply usurp power from the richest man in the world and simply get off Scott free. And so Kakashi left the choice up to his gennin. Go back to the village and let some else handle it, or continue the mission despite the dangers. In the end team 7 agreed to go. Sasuke because of the chance for a challenge, Naruto because of the prospect of finding death, and Sakura because of her unwillingness to let her team down.

At the moment they were they were all sitting on a boat, waiting to reach the Land of Waves. If Tazuna thought the silence was uncomfortable before, then it was downright suffocating now. He looked over to Sakura, looking like she was ready to burst from a question she was too scared to ask. Before Sakura could gather the courage to ask though, Sasuke beat her to the punch. "Hey Naruto can I ask you a question?" Sasuke inquired his apathetic voice unable to disguise the curiosity that was brimming from him.

"What's up?" Naruto sighed in his usual flat tone.

"Have you ever killed anyone before?" Sasuke asked. The question was blunt, and for the most part very rude. It was common courtesy among ninja not to ask of one's experience with killing, unless it was for professional reasons.

For his part, Naruto did not as much as flinch at the question. "I have once before. Trust me when I say this one was much easier than that time." Naruto said, his voice betraying no emotions. It was the truth for the most part. Naruto's first kill was rather traumatic; killing an enemy ninja in comparison was no special feat. Though it also had to do with the large amount of gore he had been exposed to in the last few years, leaving him quite numb to the full impact of something like pain and death.

"So who was your first kill?" Sakura asked, her interest overpowering her fear of the blonde. For a few seconds Naruto remained silent. After a few seconds Kakashi considered cutting the conversation short, but Naruto finally spoke.

"An old friend." He sighed. Nobody on the boat could hide their surprise at the answer. Tazuna could not help but wonder if all ninja were so twisted. Sasuke and Sakura weren't sure but they thought they heard a tinged of sadness in his voice. They wanted to question further, but figured by the finality of the blonde's last answer that they were pushing their luck with the boy. Besides that, if what the blonde said was true, did they really want to know the answer? With that team 7 finally settled into a strange and awkward silence.

-2 hours later, undisclosed location-

Kakashi was stuck in an orb of water. The man at fault was none other than Zabuza, rogue ninja of the Hidden Mist Village. Team 7 had been walking along until a flying zanbato came flying by, nearly decapitating the entire team. The battle that had followed between Zabuza and Kakashi was short but more intense than any fight that the three gennin had ever seen. With speed, strength and finesse, they fought to a standstill, until finally Zabuza had managed to trick Kakashi.

Team 7 watched as Zabuza trapped Kakashi into a water prison jutsu. At their sensei's sudden helplessness, team 7 was at a loss as to what to do. Even Naruto couldn't stop the frown from coming on his face. Without waiting for their response Zabuza made a water clone to finish the gennin off.

"Get out of here!" Kakashi yelled. "You don't stand a chance; if you run you'll be able to get away from the water clone's range!" But it seemed his plea landed on deaf ears, as Naruto walked up to the advancing clone, his teammates yelling after him.

"Are you strong enough to kill me?" Naruto asked genuine excitement and curiosity in his voice.

The water clone laughed at, what has to him, a stupid question. "Stupid brat! I could kill you a thousand times over!" Drawing his monstrous weapon Zabuza slashed Naruto from shoulder to hip, followed by a bone crushing kick to the face. Naruto was sent flying into a tree, Zabuza cackling at the ease of the kill, and the rest of team 7 crying out for Naruto in worry.

Zabuza didn't get to laugh for long however as a voice cut him off. "Is that all you have?" Naruto asked looking very agitated. "I'll just have to make you take me seriously!" Naruto said as he flashed though hand seals. "Vacuum Claw Jutsu!" He harshly whispered as a strange wind circled around each of Naruto's fingers.

Quickly Naruto attacked the water clone. In an attempt to make him back off Zabuza's clone swung his head cleaver at Naruto's shoulder. Instead of dodging Naruto completely took the brunt of the attack, using his own hand to allow the blade to sink deeper into his shoulder, temporarily immobilizing the water clone. With his free hand he clawed at the clone's chest. The clone leaned back to avoid the attack, but everyone was shocked as large claw marks appeared on the clones chest, killing it instantly, no contact seeming to take place.

Slowly Naruto walked onto the water's surface, his head low and hair covering his eyes. His wound became covered in smoke, and as the smoldering began to wane, a perfectly healed body remained. With a predatory gait he advanced on Zabuza.

"I don't know what you've taught this brat, Kakashi, but I'm not going to be intimidated!" Zabuza roared, going through one handed seals at a rapid pace. "Water clone jutsu!" 10 Water pillars, around Naruto, rose from the small lake before solidifying and taking the form of the demon of the mist.

Naruto calmly stopped walking. With deadly precision the water clones closed in on Naruto, their swords cutting deeply into the boy at all angles. The clones smirked at their vicious kill. Their excitement was short lived however. "Quit wasting my time, and take me seriously." The still alive gennin growled. In a violent fury Naruto ripped through the clones, with slashes from his hands.

With a yell Naruto ran at Zabuza. As the blonde got closer Zabuza noticed three things. The first was the boy's injuries healing at a rapid speed. The second was each of the blonde's fingers being cut up over and over again by an invisible force. The third however was the most haunting, as he stared at his advancing opponent, the blood red eyes of a demon stared back.

Breaking out of his musings almost too late Zabuza could only lean back as Naruto swiped at his chest. Again, long claw marks cut into his skin. But this time Zabuza felt it. It was unlike any injury he had ever felt before. As if his skin was being sucked in so ferociously that it was torn from his body. As Naruto went in for another strike Zabuza had no choice but to jump back, releasing the water prison jutsu.

Without paying head to the blood seeping from his chest wound Zabuza flashed through sand seals. "Water dragon jutsu!" Zabuza said as water rose in a giant pillar and taking the form of a dragon, eyes blazing yellow. It was upon Naruto, biting at his midsection and taking him through the air. As Naruto began to approach his team, he sunk his fingers into the dragon's neck. In a twisting motion he tugged, an invisible force digging deep into the jutsu. The dragon's head separated from the neck, decapitating and dispelling the jutsu.

Falling to the ground with a grunt, Naruto carelessly landed on his feet. His stomach sported a giant, painful looking, bite mark. But in a swallowing display of steam the bite mark disappeared, blood the only indication he ever had a wound. As the steam cleared he saw Zabuza suddenly in front of him, weapon drawn and poised to cut Naruto through. Naruto inwardly cringed as the blade came down, it wouldn't kill him he knew that now but it would still hurt. Despite Naruto's suicidal tendencies he wasn't a masochist. He had already been cut a few times by the blade, even if it was a clone, and he knew it wasn't a very pleasant weapon to get cut by. Something about it seemed to draw his very blood in and in a painful way, unlike his blood weapon jutsu.

Just as the Zanbato was about to rake itself against Naruto's body a wolf composed entirely of lightning assaulted Zabuza. Only from years of training was Zabuza able to change the course of his sword to block the incoming jutsu. Despite this Zabuza still found himself being pushed back before coming to a stop.

In a steady walk Kakashi's form came into sight from the mist. His sharingan blazing and small traces of lightning arcing around his body, excess element charged chakra still hanging over him. "That's enough Naruto. I got it from here."

Naruto frowned. "… Tch fine," he turned around and walked back to his teammates, "He's not strong enough to kill me, and I'm not strong enough to defeat him." He sighed. He got back into formation, his teammates strangely relieved to have him there.

Getting back up from Kakashi's attack, Zabuza glared at the sharingan user. "It's not over yet!" He roared. With that the two ninja resumed their fight.

-Outside Tazuna's house, 22:39-

The fight between Kakashi and Zabuza had lasted for but a few more minutes till Kakashi gained the upper hand. Before he could give the final blow however two senbon needles embedded themselves into the mist user's neck. A hunter ninja appeared shortly thereafter. He immediately explained that he would be disposing of the ninja's body and then ran off. Kakashi lost consciousness once the danger was cleared. Dragging their sensei to Tazuna's house team 7 had decided to rest for the night. Except for Naruto that is, once his teammates had fallen asleep he had snuck out the house.

Currently he had a shadow clone marking his body with a pen. What he was marking was Naruto's tenketsu points, using the aide of an anatomy scroll. Deliberately the clone made one last mark, and then dispelled himself. Naruto wouldn't be able to use the clones for his next move. Building up chakra he made some hand seals. "Vacuum claw jutsu." He whispered.

Immediately he felt the intense tugging of the jutsu take effect. The jutsu was very simple in practice. It displaced the air around his fingers. As a result everything within range would be sucked in, the empty space trying to fill the void of nothingness. The power was enough to pull metal into it, and even disrupt jutsu. It was quite effective, but with several weaknesses. The most obvious was that even the user's fingers were not left intact from the jutsu's range. As a result most people could only keep it up for a few seconds before they risked losing a finger. Naruto didn't have to worry about this however; his fingers grew back fairly quickly.

Naruto had read the story of a Hyuuga in the scroll. During the warring clan era he would use a combination of the vacuum claw jutsu and his family taijutsu to rip the very chakra points from his opponents. However the special gauntlets the Hyuuga had used to stop his fingers from being ripped apart from the jutsu had become lost with time. But Naruto wouldn't need any special gauntlets. With a deep breath he got ready to rip his chakra points out of his body. It would most likely end in disappointment, but it was worth a try. Steeling his resolve, Naruto plunged the fingers of his right hand into his distal left hand.

-Author's Note-

Sorry for not updating sooner! I really tried to, but I've been extremely busy this past week. I'm an army medic and usually I write when I'm covering ranges. Unfortunately that was a no-go this week, because I had to participate a bit. I'm talking things from 50 cal. ranges to vehicle extraction from 3 feet of mud and water. I was planning to catch up on the Veterans Day weekend, but truth be told I've been drinking myself into oblivion for the last four days. So today I managed to get a day off, and since I'm all out of booze, I'm settling with writing. I hope you like this chapter. Also thanks to all of you for the overwhelming reception this story has gotten. Seriously it has left me surprised. So trust me when I say I am very motivated to finish the story. If any of you are interested in reading a similar story, then like I said in chapter 1, go read 'Melancholy's smile' by tokehgeko. It's a very good read. Anyway to address some reviewers. Naruto is supposed to be apathetic. He will have moments of weaknesses, though for now it won't show till he does something like inject acid into his veins, like last chapter. Honestly I wasn't looking to make this story to dark, but it's certainly heading that way. Regardless, my sense of humor has a tendency to want to escape me, so expect some more funny scenes, though it'll be more subtle. And yes, this story is pretty morbid, haha. It will get more morbid, so get ready. This chapter is a little short, but expect them to keep increasing in length. I'll reveal the results of the last attempt whenever Naruto fight's Neji, if he does fight Neji. By the way, most of the jutsu Naruto learned in the forbidden scroll will be give and takes. None of his clones will be able to use them because they would dispel if they even tried it.

Reviews are appreciated


End file.
